Christmas at Lilac Cottage: (#1 White Cliff Bay) Read Online Free PDF Page A

long time, she wanted nothing more than to reach up and kiss him. Weirdly enough he looked like he wanted the same thing, as his eyes darkened with desire and then scanned down to her lips. What the hell? He was married. It was bad enough that she was having inappropriate thoughts about a married man; it was absolutely not OK for him to be having those same thoughts about her.
    She took a definite step back. ‘Well, it’s getting late and I have to be up early tomorrow so maybe you should go.’
    He stared down at her with confusion and she knew she had been sending some very mixed messages that night.
    ‘Yes, of course. I’ll let you get to bed,’ he said, softly.
    ‘And I look forward to meeting Daisy tomorrow,’ Penny said, waiting for the guilt to cross his face at the mention of his wife. But there was no remorse there at all. He just nodded, walked through her kitchen and out the back door, not giving her a single backward glance.
    She breathed in the cool night air, determined to clear her mind, then called Bernard in. He ran in, shook wet snowflakes all over her and then launched himself at the sofa where they had been sitting just moments before. She sighed and went into the kitchen.
    How unfair was it that the first man in years that she’d had any kind of feelings for was beautiful, intriguing, intelligent, worked with his hands, kind and … married?
    She was better off alone – that had been her mantra for the last eight years and she was sticking to it.
    She jolted at a sudden noise from next door and she watched as the bookshelf was pushed away from the connecting door. He’d done that for her and she wanted to hug him and shake him in equal measure. He was married and it seemed he needed reminding of that even more than she did.
    Daisy would be back tomorrow; hopefully that would stop any of that chemistry that was sparking between them.
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    H enry turned the downstairs light off and wandered upstairs to bed. There was something so attractive about Penny. Even wearing that oversized hoodie over black leggings and her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, she looked adorable. She was fascinating too, he could have chatted to her all night. But she didn’t seem to know what she wanted. Flirting with him one moment and completely back-pedalling the next. He didn’t need another complicated woman in his life, Daisy was his entire world. But as he lay down in bed, it was Penny’s smile and those intense green gold eyes that he thought of before he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Three
    H enry strode along the steep , narrow winding lanes with his niece Bea on his hip. She was too little to keep up with his long-legged stride so it was easier to carry her. She didn’t seem to mind.
    He passed cute little cottages that were jutting out onto the cobbled streets, their front doors opening right out onto the road. The homes were a higgledy-piggledy mess – there was no order, they just seemed to have one house piled almost on top of the next one. They were all brightly coloured, but none were the same style as the previous one he had passed; some were tiny bungalows whereas some were large three-storey houses. But it just sort of worked.
    He stepped into a coffee shop and looked up at the board to see what was on offer. He had to smile when the limited choices ran to cappuccino, espresso and a few herbal teas. This was definitely not Starbucks.
    ‘Jesus, who is that fine piece of ass?’ said a voice behind him in a staged whisper.
    ‘Jade, keep your voice down. I’m sure he can hear you.’
    ‘But look at him, we never get men like that in White Cliff Bay.’
    ‘That’s Henry Travis, Anna Kent’s brother, and that’s his niece. He’s moved into Penny’s annexe.’
    Henry winced that they were talking about him so openly, like he was a piece of meat.
    There was a loud bark of a laugh from a third woman. ‘I bet Penny thinks all her Christmases have come at once.’
    ‘He’s not going to go out